Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Why CAG Stopped Putting Defence Reports Online

Why CAG Stopped Putting Defence Reports Online

Seven defence reports were submitted in Parliament since October 2017 but none of these are available on the auditor’s website. All CAG reports, however, must be submitted to Parliament and so are public documents. The unavailability of the online version will restrict their access

NEW DELHI: The federal auditor’s much awaited report on the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal, when it comes, is unlikely to be available online as the auditor had instructed its officers last year to desist from the normal practice of uploading defence reports on its website for public consumption. Seven defence reports were submitted in Parliament since October 2017, five in the last monsoon session, but none of these are available on the auditor’s website, unlike CAG reports on other subjects.

All CAG reports, however, must be submitted to Parliament and so are public documents. The unavailability of the online version will restrict their access. The CAG is yet to finalise its report on the Rafale deal, a inter-governmental agreement signed with France in 2016 to acquire 36 fighters in flyaway condition to boost India’s defence against China and Pakistan.

The auditor is likely to present a comprehensive report on all recent defence acquisitions rather than a standalone report on Rafale, sources said. The observations on Rafale will be summarised into a chapter, they added. The CAG is yet to hold exit conference with the defence ministry, a mandatory procedure before the report is finalised.

The process will be completed some time in January. Around October last year, the auditor had issued an internal directive to its defence wing to remove a few paragraphs from some of its past reports and remove all references available online, including press releases issued on the subject. Simultaneously, no new reports on defence were uploaded on its website.

The deleted paragraphs were from audit reports on India-China border roads, ammunition management, functioning of Army Aviation Corps and shortfall in availability of BMP (infantry armoured) vehicles in the Army.

A CAG officer had then told TOI these reports were taken down at the “request of the defence ministry, owing to their sensitivity”. Among the reports pulled down from the CAG website was a performance audit relating to Indo-China border roads.

The report was tabled in Parliament in March 2017 and was widely reported after the federal auditor said at least six roads (197 km), out of the ones examined by the CAG, were not fit to run specialised vehicles.